This is a Journal entry by chaiwallah
Poem: Transformation
chaiwallah Started conversation Aug 15, 2003
This is a "tree" poem from twenty years ago!
TRANSFORMATION
The wonder is a tree I've seen
all summer, suddenly transformed
from comfortable distance
into shattering beauty -
a brief passing, threatened
by the coming-on of winter's
wind-blown battering.
Cold will touch it too
with flat conventional snow.
Duty will have none of the blazing,
none of the heart-shaking leaf-whirl.
Stripped, responsible branches,
black, safe, respectable -
these are allowed to last.
But the russet-swirl,
the gusts, the sun-flecked fury?
Too untidy, unpredictable,
flurry falls and fades.
Leaves rot to fertilize
unplanted flower-beds.
The trouble is, I saw her so
transformed, all blazing,
golden-misted autumn-fire.
This leaf-spun spiraling too
must dance, must, must fall
and fade, must not disturb
our public park-swept paths.
The trouble is, a maple tree
transfigured in the fall.
Evening comes, wind drops,
leaves settle redly
with the heavy autumn sun.
The place, the park,
the vision parting
leaves me no peace.
Key: Complain about this post
Poem: Transformation
More Conversations for chaiwallah
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."